ASHWAUBENON - It was like watching the once-venerable Veterans Memorial Arena being pantsed in public by those pranksters from Veit & Co. Inc. Demolition.

There it was in all its buck-naked glory, aluminum sheathing down around its ankles, standing there for all to see.

“Today is the end of an era and the beginning of the next,” said County Executive Troy Streckenbach. “It’s a good day.”

In a made-for-TV moment, construction crews on Tuesday used a backhoe to pull off the outer sheathing of the 62-year-old arena, exposing its spindly support beams and revealing another backhoe deep inside, where it was scooping up busted building parts.

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Crews stripped the facade from the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena on July 9, 2019(Photo: Richard Ryman/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

The building largely has been gutted. Piles of busted brick, tangles of rebar and now aluminum sheathing lay all around. At first glance, it looks random, but the crew is actually keeping it organized, with like things piled together for easier hauling, explained Kurt Wolfgram, project executive for Miron Construction, which is mostly responsible for the damage.

All of that aluminum sheathing will get recycled, as will steel I-beams and other metal, Wolfgram said.

Next week or so, crews will use a giant, hydraulic snipping device to cut through the dozens of vertical support beams holding the dome up, he said.

Don’t expect that dome to go gently into that good night. It’ll probably collapse mightily on one side and come down in more of a twist, not so much like a landing saucer, Wolfgram predicted.

Even before it’s down, the county plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony in the near future for the new expo center.

Plans are to replace the arena and Shopko Hall with a $93 million rectangular expo hall featuring about 120,000 square feet of event space at ground level and additional meeting spaces above the glass lobby.

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Crews stripped the facade from the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena on July 9, 2019(Photo: Richard Ryman/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

“The project is going to wow people,” Streckenbach said. “It’s going to complement the development that’s been happening all the way from (Interstate) 41 to Ashland Avenue and do exactly what we’re trying to do, which is attract business, expos from the region — and by region, I mean the region of Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit. This building puts us in that position to attract business from that whole area.”

Streckenbach acknowledged a lot of people will be sad to see the old arena go.

“A lot of people — myself included — grew up to a lot of great memories that took place inside this arena,” he said, adding that his own memories focused on watching Bobcat hockey and WWE wrestling. “At the same time, it’s about making investment into this community, making sure we’re relevant into the future.”

Streckenbach said work is still being done to sell naming rights for the facility. Interest has been strong, and he predicted an announcement would be made “in the very near future.”

PMI, which holds the contract for managing events, has rescheduled some of its expo favorites to other locations, when possible, until January 2021, when the new facility is expected to open, PMI President Ken Wachter said. The Shriners Circus will move to the Resch Center, the annual RV, boat, and home and garden shows will be moved to other venues, and some events like Sweet Street will have to be postponed, he said.

As for the first “big event” to take place when the new facility is ready, Wachter offered only one clue that narrowed it down tremendously: